Education Justice Alliance (EJA), in partnership with Duke Children’s Law Clinic, conducted a community report to examine the practice of suspending North Carolina public school students in pre-kindergarten through second grade. This is also known as early grade suspension.
IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM
EJA’s mission as an organization involves uplifting the experiences of parents/guardians because they are the people navigating the public school systems. We applied this same philosophy to this study and worked with several parents to gather data. After a vetting and training process, parent researchers were selected to began surveying other parents/guardians in the Fall of 2024. The goal was to get a better understanding of awareness, opinions, and experiences with suspension and early childhood and elementary education.
Following the surveys and a review of the findings, the parent researchers joined EJA and Duke Children’s Law Clinic to release the data to the public. We invited several thought leaders, advocates, organizers, and public officials to join us for a review of the study and to hear from the researchers firsthand. The conversation led to many enlightening moments for attendees, including the realization that many of the policies and procedures used in the school system have not been updated to address the digital and neurological needs of today’s children.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Overall, the research revealed what bridges need to be built to connect parents to information and assistance when navigating early grade suspension. The data also showed many parents lack the awareness necessary to be proactive in identifying risks in disciplinary policies of certain childcare centers and schools.
Other key findings of those surveyed include…
- About half were not aware of specific policies regarding suspension in grades kindergarten through third
- There is a bit of confusion or differing interpretations of the definition of “exclusionary practices” among parents/guardians
- Most disagreed or strongly disagreed that current support there is adequate support for parent/guardians with children exhibiting challenging behaviors
WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS?
Our report outlines several approaches to limit and/or eliminate early grade suspension. We encourage you to read through the findings, engage in conversation about this study, and reach out to EJA’s Early Childcare Organizer, Imani Dillahunt (Imani@ejanc.org), if you have questions or would like to discuss the report in greater detail.
EJA would like to give a special thank you to the parent researchers for their dedication. Your work will help us advocate for the end of early grade suspension from a more informed position that includes data and lived experiences.
